Ford Palmer on ESPN: Runner, Vegan, Lifeguard, 4:00.00 miler

The article says that the 4 people that finished ahead of him have worn a USA team jersey this year. While true, Pat Casey only wore a team jersey at World Relays... on a team that didn't have qualification standards...

While he was the only one in the whole 4x1500 relay that beat a Kenyan, it wasn't like running at the 2014 World Indoors, or 2013 World Outdoors, or the Olympics.

ESPN needs to do some research. While Palmer's finish was great, it was hardly the most surprising. Casey took 2nd this year after not even making the finals last year...

Ford is an amazing competitor. Not only does he still guard for his beach patrol, but also competes in lifeguard races out of city. Just the other day he ran a mile on the sand, smoking the other competitors (including very gifted D1 runners) effortlessly. Best of luck to you Ford, we're rooting for you.

Vegan??? No way! How could he possibly be healthy if he isn't eating Big Macs, bacon, hot dogs, bologna, pork butt, cow milk (ugh, don't even investigate what's in cow milk, stay ignorantly bliss). Imagine how fast he could run if he wasn't on some wacko fad diet.

kmaclam wrote:

Vegan??? No way! How could he possibly be healthy if he isn't eating Big Macs, bacon, hot dogs, bologna, pork butt, cow milk (ugh, don't even investigate what's in cow milk, stay ignorantly bliss). Imagine how fast he could run if he wasn't on some wacko fad diet.

Sarcasm works best when 1) you don't apply it with an atom smasher and 2) you avoid phrases such as "ignorantly bliss."

Really... wrote:

I saw this the other day. It's a great article, don't get me wrong. But it will always make me mad that the heartwarming things will make it to ESPN but no one will give a crap about huge stories and achievements like breaking American records. Sure it isn't what will make money in the short-term, but it's that kind of coverage (and lack thereof) that will keep track& field / Cross country / Road racing in obscurity.

You do realize that ESPN is in the business of providing what people want to see, read, hear, etc., not to promote one sport over another? If you think you could create a more successful media empire covering Rupp or Coburn - and this is not to belittle their accomplishments - then do so. Otherwise quit whining.

"Nice story, good information, but very poorly written. Choppily constructed and the reader gets pulled in a lot of different directions. I am glad when someone tries to become a track journalist, but one shouldn't follow in the footsteps of Letsrun and think any track writing is good writing."

-When referring to choppy fragments and poorly constructed sentences , look no further than your own work. Irony can sometimes be beautiful.

New Jersey devilss wrote:

The article is a bit misleading.

It's making it seem like he played football through college then magically ran a four minute mile the next year. He ran 1:51, 2:23, and 3:46 in college. Then got better coaching, better training partners, and more serious, so it's not a huge surprised he had a major breakout season.

This statement is ridiculous. Not surprising that a kid who didn't even make NCAAs is running 3:38 and getting 5th at USAs a year later? It's a huge surprise regardless of any coaching/training changes he's made.

It's not like he wasn't working hard in college. You do realize that's 8-seconds over 1500m in a year? It's not like he went from a 5-minute mile to 4:52. 3:46 is already pretty good and as the article says he worked hard to get that far and had already improved a ton in college.

As you say, he ran 1:51 in college. He closed his 1500 in that at USAs.

Discussion item 1: published article by a professional. Item 2? Message board post on the internet. You are right, both should be held to the same standard.

onefingerforyou wrote:

Discussion item 1: published article by a professional. Item 2? Message board post on the internet. You are right, both should be held to the same standard.

Perhaps the quality of writing on a message board need not be held to the same general standard as that of a major media outlet. When a message-board poster criticizes others' writing using substandard writing, however, the equation shifts a bit, don't you think?

I enjoyed the article; thanks for posting it.